Squirrel Systems Completes U.S. EMV Implementation For Copper Cellar Family Of Restaurants

Squirrel POS system integrates to Merchant Link gateway to enable EMV payments at Calhoun’s location in Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Squirrel Systems, a leading technology provider to the hospitality industry, announced the successful implementation of EMV payments using the Merchant Link gateway with Copper Cellar Restaurant Group at Calhoun’s in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Squirrel Systems and Merchant Link have implemented a semi-integrated EMV payment architecture in which no cardholder data is transmitted through or stored in the point-of-sale system, significantly reducing PCI scope. Copper Cellar is currently using wired payment devices that accept chip cards to securely process payments. The multi-unit and multi-concept restaurant group is looking forward to rolling out wireless pay-at-the-table devices as well.

“The team at Squirrel Systems were so knowledgeable in the EMV process since they already had it implemented in Canada. Although Copper Cellar hasn’t experienced any fraud or security issues, the industry is buzzing about the growing percentage of chargebacks and fraudulent transactions that restaurants are now liable for,” Mike Gaston, MIS Director at Copper Cellar Corporation, said. “Squirrel Systems and Merchant Link have assisted us in creating an EMV solution that meets our security needs while minimizing the impact on our customer experience.”

Squirrel Systems was the first to introduce the secure semi-integrated architecture in the Canadian restaurant market in 2010 and is leveraging this expertise now that EMV has been mandated in the US. Squirrel is proud to have partnered with Merchant Link to provide EMV solutions in the US. “As a leader in Canada successfully implementing EMV for many years, our customers can trust our proven and secure technology platform,” said Joe Cortese, Vice President of Product Development at Squirrel Systems. “With the knowledge base we already have, we are able to help customers such as Copper Cellar quickly and securely implement EMV payments in their restaurants.”

About Squirrel Systems
Squirrel Systems is proud to be celebrating 33 years as a technology provider to the global hospitality industry. In 1984, Squirrel revolutionized the industry with the first touchscreen restaurant POS system and continues to introduce market leading innovations to help shape the industry. With a proven platform, extensive domain expertise, and industry leading service and support, Squirrel helps food and beverage operators enable amazing customer experiences. For more information, visit squirrelsystems.com/emv.

About Merchant Link
Merchant Link is a leading provider of cloud-based payment gateway and data security solutions, removing the risk and hassle of payments for more than 400,000 restaurant, hotel and retail locations. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., Merchant Link currently enables more than 6 billion transactions annually for some of the world's best-known merchants, providing connectivity to the major U.S. payment card processors. TransactionVault, our tokenization solution, TransactionShield, our pointto-point encryption solution and TransactionLink, our EMV solution, mitigate the risk of a data compromise while lowering the cost and effort of PCI compliance. For more information, visit www.merchantlink.com.